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GameStop Swoops In To Buy ThinkGeek For $140 Million

Posted by Soulskill on from the will-pay-you-8-cents-for-used-annoy-a-trons dept.

Lirodon writes: Remember a few days ago, when Slashdot's former parent company was the subject of a $122 million takeover bid by Hot Topic? Well, another geeky retailer entered the fray in the battle for ThinkGeek, and won. GameStop will be acquiring Geeknet for $140 million. The video game retailer has promised synergies, such as in-store pickup and integration with its rewards program.

9 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Might make Gamestop a bit more relevant by spiritplumber · · Score: 4, Interesting

    haven't been to one since they did a closure sale and I was able to pick up a bunch of Kinects for $20 each. Now if they could also buy Radio Shack...

    --
    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    1. Re:Might make Gamestop a bit more relevant by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 4, Funny

      Announcer: Do you remember a time when chocolate chips came fresh from the oven? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
      Fry: Ah, those were the days.
      Announcer: Do you remember a time when women couldn't vote and certain people weren't allowed on golf courses? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

      ---Futurama S01E06: A Fishful of Dollars.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
  2. Eh ... by ninjagin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think it's a better buyer, personally. Hot Topic just seemed like an organization that would not appreciate all of the little, goofy, technical-fun bits of TG that I like. GameStop is closer, I think, to knowing the TG target customer.

    --
    .. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
    1. Re:Eh ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Think Geek -IS- Hot Topic.

      If you've not been in a Hot Topic any time in the last 8 years let me summarize it for you: Bazinga shirts and Nickelodeon merch.

      Now just add in some token "nerd toys", and remove the black paint from the walls and you've got a place that's hard to differentiate from Think Geek.

    2. Re:Eh ... by bhcompy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Have you been on ThinkGeek lately? It's basically the modern Hot Topic in internet form. The front page of both websites contains Doctor Who, Marvel, Minecraft, Star Wars, and a number of other primary properties. The days of USB rocket launchers are in the past. Hot Topic was a great buyer for ThinkGeek(and awful for all of the other properties). Much better than GameStop from that perspective

  3. Re:RIP Think Geek by OhPlz · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's what happens when you buy all your competitors.

  4. Re:Making ThinkGeek even less relevant, hmm? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    At least Hot Topic owning ThinkGeek was amusing

    I think, of the two, Hot Topic could have significantly grown the brand - and ultimately that would have been good for geekdom, writ large.

    Not sure how the deal is being structured, but if it's a stock deal, this is bad for shareholders. Gamers aren't going to spend their cash on a bunch of crap that they can't play and non-gamer geeks aren't going to go hang around in Gamestop shopping for stuff with all the smelly gamers in there. Whatever the difference per diluted share Gamestop is bringing, that'll all get pissed away within the first year.

    One presumes, though, that it's a partial cash deal and the extra dozen-million bucks or so will be split up among the managers. So ... good news for the competition. Around here we have a chain called Newbury Comics that competes in this space. Right now is the time for them to get a huge funding round...

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  5. Preorder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did Gamestop pre-order geeknet?

    Will I now need to pre-order things on ThinkGeek, or not get them at all?

    Inquiring minds want to know!

  6. Re:Making ThinkGeek even less relevant, hmm? by gmhowell · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you weren't too fucking lazy to read the article, you might know that it's a combination of $37 million and $20/share. You don't deserve your low ID.

    While you were busy 'reading articles', he was busy getting a low ID. BTW, UID 1 never read an article.

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon